On The Last Afternoon of the Year

by Paul Talbot on December 31, 2013

Up past the Hotel del Coronado I walked along Orange Avenue and there were still a lot of Arizona State fans on the street.

They all left Qualcomm Stadium last night cold and confused. I lined up with them for the trolley ride home and it was one of those times when you are surrounded by people whose spirits have been so unexpectedly deflated that you are reminded how much of life is random. San Diego was not supposed to be so chilly, and Texas Tech was not supposed to win the football game.

This afternoon on Orange Avenue a man passed by wearing a t-shirt which read, “Dal Law.” For a moment, I was tempted to stop him. I could have told him that quite a few friends of mine went to Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He would have been surprised that somebody in Coronado could decipher his t-shirt, and surely I would have impressed him. But I had no interest in impressing anyone, or talking with anyone, and all I wanted to do was walk through town with no particular purpose and quietly commemorate the last day of what has been a wonderful year.

That was all I wanted. I took Loma Lane from Flora Avenue past the French restaurant. Ellen and I will wait for a cold night when it feels like Paris and we can take the corner table in the bar. But not this evening, not with all the tourists, not on New Year’s Eve. We will wait for the right damp night like the last time we went when the town was empty.